The problem with getting to First Class is you need time on the air
using CW. And that doesn't happen any more what with GMDSS.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ham-Radio-History/message/10498?
threaded=1&var=1&l=1>
Except at the "new" 500kHz coast stations.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ham-Radio-History/message/10671?
threaded=1&var=1>
Ah, but to sit the exam for the First Class Radiotelegraph license
one must be
able to demonstrate experience as a commercial Morse operator
aboard ship or at
a coast station. The places where such experience can be obtained
are indeed
thin upon the ground these days. As the US Federal Communications
Commission
recently ruled, amateur and military experience doesn't count.
But one year after obtaining your coast station license and putting
your station
into operation, or by being associated with the station of another
licensee, you
will be qualified to take the exam for the First Radiotelegraph.
Read the thread for more info.
OK, this is OT. I suppose TT doesn't make any 500KHz gear. Yet :-)
73 Kevin
On Dec 4, 2007, at 7:49 PM, Kim Elmore wrote:
I have my 2nd Class Radiotelegraph, mainly because I saw that it was
still available. For some odd reason, the FCC hasn't done away with
it. I took my 20 wpm Extra test before the FCC, so I qualified by
taking only the written portion. The written is pretty arcane (and
hasn't been updated for many years), asking lots of questions about
super-regen receivers and message handling protocols. I learned those
on CW traffic nets, so it wasn't too bad.
-...-
73 DE N7WIM / G8UDP
Kevin Purcell
kevinpurcell@pobox.com
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